Here’s an example of what’s inherently good about the Internet.
Ten years ago I heard a new album from a band that I had grown fond of in the years prior. The band was (and still is) called Shearwater. When I first heard Winged Life (2004), the band was a side project of quieter songs for Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff, members of the indie rock band Okkervil River. Soon after, Shearwater became Meiburg’s primary musical vehicle, sans Sheff. After an EP and another full length in 2006, they released Rook (2008), an album that for my taste propelled the band to a new level. It’s a conceptual, intelligent, and artistic masterpiece that builds on their earlier catalog and stays comfortably listenable while being progressive and incredibly interesting.
So what does this have to do with the good parts of the Internet? On June 11, 2018 while working away at my computer, I received a notification that Shearwater was streaming a live video on Facebook. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Rook, Meiburg performed a (mostly) solo version of the entire album and streamed it live, without a net. He was on tour in Europe with a side project called Loma, and had a day off at a house in London that happened to have a beautiful grand piano available. I watched and listened with delight to those familiar melodies and lyrics streaming in real-time in all of the lofi glory of a live Facebook stream.
Meiburg admitted he hadn’t played some of those songs since 2008 and muscled through some of the rust that hung on them, while giving fans an honest heartfelt tip-of-the-hat to an album that meant a lot, to a lot of Shearwater loyals. Though the recordings were never meant to be made public beyond the stream, they were recently released on Bandcamp as a pay-whatever-you-want release with all proceeds being donated to the International Rescue Committee, who work to support and defend refugees around the world. Now that’s really fucking cool if you ask me. Even with all of the bullshit floating around out there, I do love the Internet.
If you aren’t familiar with Shearwater or the album Rook, I recommend checking out the studio album first. You can do that on Spotify here.
If you’re a fan of Rook, check out these honest and raw stripped down recordings of the album and throw a few bucks at it to help out some folks who are a little less fortunate than you.